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We care about your data and privacy, so we can assure you that your personal information will not be shared with third-parties in any way. For more information about how we protect your data, please read our Privacy Policy.
Frequently asked questions
Personal data is any information that relates to an identifiable or specific person. The current Swiss Data Protection Law also considers information relating to legal entities as personal data - this will change after the new Law comes into force after the 1. September 2023. A person is identified if their identity is apparent from the record. While some data on its own may not give any indication, combined with other data it can identify a person. A good example would be the date of birth. The date of birth alone will not tell you much but in combination with a phone number or a name you will be able to conclude the identity.
The Swiss Data Protection Act considers certain types of personal data to be particularly sensitive, because misuse can relate to serious negative consequences for the concerned person. Therefore special protection is needed. Sensitive personal data can be data relating to religious or political beliefs, health records, private life or criminal records. Special rules apply to the handling of this data.
Processing begins as soon as any action is taken involving personal data, whether it be actively or passively. This could involve collecting, storing, retaining, using, modifying, disclosing, archiving and deleting or destroying data.
This is a subject of controversy. In Switzerland, the Federal Supreme Court ruled against it in the Logistep decision in 2010. In the EU, however, the IP address is generally considered to be personal data. In Switzerland, there is a gradual tendency towards this position, and the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Information has already issued a statement on the subject.
The processing of personal data must comply with certain principles. The most important principles are transparency, purpose limitation and proportionality. Data should only be processed for the purpose stated at the time of collection (transparency). And data should be processed only to the extent necessary for that purpose - no more and no less (proportionality). There are also other data protection principles and rules that govern the processing of personal data.
In contrary to the GDPR, the current and the revised Swiss data Protection Law does not prohibit data processing unless it violates Data Protection Principles. If the processing is in question of violating Data Protection Principles, the processing can only be continued if a justification (e.g. consent of the concerned person or legal requirement) is given.